Pre Season Power Rankings- Season 28

Discussion in 'Leaguegaming Basketball Association (Discontinued)' started by Im Tom, Jun 15, 2021.

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Do you agree?

  1. yes

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    14.3%
  2. no

    2 vote(s)
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  3. some

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  1. Im Tom

    Im Tom Well-Known Member

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    Bidding is done and the most exciting part of the season has now come to a close, but with the league expanding to 14 teams and the salary cap increasing to 20mil there is so much to talk about from bidding.

    To put it into perspective you could take any contract and multiply it by .75 to compare it to the regular 15mil salary cap. So 1mil x .75 = 750k, 4mil x .75 = 3mil, 10mil x .75 = 7.5mil, you get it. So, the largest impact that the increase in cap had was in the larger contracts, meaning those 500k contracts are even more valuable as it allows owners to go out and spend that big money on those franchise guys etc.

    Needless to say, this season is a lot more up in the air than any season before it, there’s a handful of teams that you could make a case for as contenders and teams that are primed to upset and disappoint. Let’s get into it:


    #1- Minnesota Timberwolves :team94:

    This should come as a surprise to nobody, Jig and Tee went out and did their thing in bidding, even I’d say learning from a few errors that they made last season and they have the best team post bidding without a doubt. 7.25m was a bargain bin price for Too Baited & Good to Lock, and saying things like “Baited didn’t go high because he might not play if he went to a bad team” is dumb because there’s a lot of potential flight risks this season. Regardless that allowed them to go out and spend a little over market price for guys like Ching & PIFxTheKing, and fill out the rest of their roster with familiar faces like Iso, Abstrxct & Vik. There are only 2 possible weaknesses I can see in their roster, the first is potential chemistry issues that could arise, personalities are always hard to keep in check but the second is the lack of a big-name lock, we didn’t see Abstrxct play too many games last season and if they picked up Ching to run lock he’ll be playing away from his normal position although he does have a lock build. Regardless this is still without a doubt the team to beat coming into this season.


    #2- Oklahoma City Thunder :team373:

    All of the Snype bidding slander needs to stop immediately, if you took a good look at his roster and said “this is the weakest team Snype has ever drafted” you’re out of your mind and I’m going to tell you why. Snype went out and got some of the absolute steals of bidding, Malikster for 1.75, Zero Choice for 1.25, Skizzo & ShotimeShawn for 500k? like seriously, then he went out and got some of the most versatile players getting Kenan, 618 & Zap for his big boy bids who are all multipositional players he’ll be able to work with to find his best possible lines. On top of that he snagged OG as his GM after Venom got himself banned, this team is going to be two very strong lines and if OG can return to previous form they have a very solid shot at a championship run. Their only big question mark for me is SpotJr, he had issues last season when it came to playing in a comp style offence and it could cause issues this season. This is a very make or break team in my opinion though, this season is going to depend on whether a lot of these players can return to previous form and compete at the level they use too. If OG & Zap can’t return to form and quickly this team is in for a rough season.


    #3- Chicago Bulls :team81:

    People are ranking this team way too low on their rankings; you do realize that this is the same Bulls first line from last season with the addition of arguably the best PG in the league right? They went and got him a solid C to play with in Aptai and from what I’ve heard they got a few of Quise’s buddies cheap, what most don’t know is that Marquise and Woosie play together in another league and in 10’s lobbies from time to time as well, this wasn’t a case of just blindly throwing money at the best person in bidding, this was a plan they had going into bidding that they pulled off quite well, they also left themselves 5mil in cap space to make any moves needed to improve their squad like last season. This may be the best two-line combination in the league, Munie and their 1st line went 11-7 last season and they’re going to be Chicago’s 2nd line this season if all works out well. Their big question marks come from their 500k players, if Munie and Woosie did indeed sneak some sleepers in then this may be a championship favourite but if they didn’t, we could see this team struggle the same way that they did some weeks last season. We can only wait and find out.


    #4- Toronto Raptors :team105:

    The Belle of bidding, Ayztraks has quickly become one of the best owners in bidding and this may be his best bidding yet. Barring any serious availability issues or massive ego clashes this team is going to have two very competitive lines, they went out and got MIP Slime for a steal compared to other PG’s on his level. They filled the rest of their roster with not only very talented players but also guys that are absolutely committed to playing in this league Witt and Extreme, Westie and Brandbai, two solid lock C combos and solid swingers in Seq and Mason, couple that with the frenchest management duo in the league and you’ve got a competitive roster. The only issue I could possibly see occurring with this roster is Slime’s availability, last season he broke out in the games that he did play but throughout the entire season he led the league in games missed due to having a baseball game/tournament, if his availability and willingness to practice and play this season is high this is another team that could make a deep playoff run. I would compare this teams’ potential to OKC, though I don’t see their ceiling being as high I don’t think their floor is as low as the Thunders.


    #5- Milwaukee Bucks :team93:

    It’s rare to see a team without a PG or C in their management duo do very well in bidding but the Bucks have broken this trend, and I say that with certainty, from what I’ve heard Kas and Comeup know almost if not everyone that they picked up, heavily limiting the potential for any of their big names dipping scene. Their two biggest pickups in my opinion were ChukinFrees & Sahrento, Frees is a very underrated PG who is on the same skill level as Empty but for almost half of his price, Sahrento brings great versatility as a C and swinger, throw in either of their Lock managers and you’ve got a solid first line. But here’s where things get good, they went out and got Rainy to run 2nd line PG for them, and in terms of 2nd line PG’s there are few teams who have better, and with their dual lock management you know that any PG playing against the Bucks is going to have a difficult game to play. Some of the weaknesses from this team could come from their unknown players, spending 16.75mil on 3 players means that you’re going to have little to work with for the remaining 5, and unless they did in fact pick up some sleepers you may see this team bounce around a few players until they can find some talent in those 500k slots.


    #6- Brooklyn Nets :team95:

    I had trouble deciding between these next two teams and which would be above the other, but at the end of the day if you go against Rick in this league success doesn’t commonly follow. There are ups and downs to the choices the Nets made in bidding, Process & Snag are going to be a solid 1 2 C combo and Berry is a solid player overall but that’s where the issues start to arise that separate them from the top 5 teams, Murked & Sniper arent the greatest Lock combo, and unless Krakn had some hype that many people haven’t seen yet they could have an underwhelming set of lines. The reason they fall into the #6 spot is this teams potential, if Rick can continue to regain his form and Krakn can but it as a good 2nd line PG this team will have success, if not this team has a very low floor, this could be the biggest dropper, but with 4.25mil in cap room and an owner in Rick who’s known to wheel and deal this isn’t a team to count out at any point. And for anyone placing this team in the lower half of the league might I remind you that this is Rick but then again, its also Rick.


    #7- Charlotte Hornets :team254:

    When you talk about the potential to upset teams this season few teams should be ahead of the Hornets, CTwice broke out at the end of last season as a talented PG and Juice put some familiar faces and talented players around him to build a solid team. Though they did overpay for a lot of their roster, Bronx is a solid C but whether they have any experience playing with him is unknown to me, the same goes with Vega, they’re solid players but become flight risks if they’re not committed to the league which is where rosters like Toronto and Brooklyn look a lot better on paper. Rams, Bigly & NYchef are on solid contracts but they fell into the trap that is day 2 bidding and ended up overpaying for guys like Rayfe, Zig Z4G & Killafornia and having spent their full 20mil they don’t have much room to work with when it comes to making moves. Their success this season is going to fall heavily on the shoulders of CTwice, if he can break out as a top PG this season they have a shot at a deep playoff run but if they cant get things started off the rip this is the first team that we could really see fall apart, but lets not underestimate Juice as an owner.


    #8- Golden State Warriors :team86:

    I’m not sure if I would call this team washed up, they have two PG’s with a ton of experience in the league and drafted themselves a really solid roster of players, where they might not have a top first line they’re going to have 2 good lines that will be able to go out and compete with the majority of teams. They did a solid job in bidding as well, Paca & Straps are solid locks and Corner & Bravo are solid shooting bigs, they don’t seem to have that high quality swinger but expect them to have a plan for both lines this season, these will have to be two lines that lean heavily on their defence to take pressure off of two PG’s that for the most part run 5 out sets. Needless to say both Kobi and Ando are looking to have big bounce back seasons as they’re both coming off of the worst season of their careers in LG, the long time friends teamed up and put a very reliable team together, they maxed out their cap so any moves they make will have to be significant ones (although this is the one team I will mention got some decent TC’s). Personally, I don’t see this team exploding to the top of the standings but I could see them sliding into the top 5 if Kobi and Ando can get hot.


    #9- Philadelphia 76ers :team99:

    The 76ers came out and made a statement in bidding, they went out and spent a combined 15.25mil on Empty and Kat, now whether this will play out for them is to be determined but nevertheless that’s the most expensive 1 2 punch in the league by far and the success of their entire season is going to depend on their heavily stacked first line being able to dominate every team they play. Empty is a solid PG, active in multiple other leagues and Kat is a very respected big in the community, on top of that they’re going to need Sub to take that next step up as a dominant lock to deal with the new talent running the 1 around the league, I would imagine Slash will swing for them finishing off a very solid first line. The issue with this team falls right after that though, no one outside of their first line has had much experience in the league and the ones that have haven’t stood out in the games that they’ve played, I would take a guess that Mecciah will be running point on the second unit with Hotpants as a hash lock, other than that its anyone’s guess, but when you compare that line to some of the other 2nd lines I’ve mentioned so far you’ll see how this might be a very top heavy team. If their 2nd line turns out to be some sleepers move them right up into the top 5.


    #10- New York Knicks :team97:

    I love question mark teams, and this team is a huge one, roster wise they probly deserve to be a bit higher in the rankings but in all honesty what are their lines? Is W4ll running PG or Lock? Is Hxndoutz running PG or Lock? Or is he even going to play? What’s Kenny running? From the looks of it if I had to take a guess, W4ll will run PG with Hxndoutz as his lock, with maybe PR Froggy and Kenny, allowing Bands to run an old school Knicks lineup as their 2nd line. If they stick to those lineups or something close to those I could see them winning some games, if they can really get some momentum and chemistry this could be another team to keep an eye on, they have the potential for a really solid first unit and this team is one that I’m personally going to be keeping an eye on to see what lines they throw at people with guys at different positions. If Hxndoutz does in fact play this season and W4ll built him a line to help him return to form his contract with be worth it without a doubt, Kenny for 4.5 is a solid pickup compared to the price of other top C’s. The big question for this team is going to be whether they can put together competitive lines but W4ll has never had a bad season in this league and I don’t expect him to start now.


    #11- Miami Heat :team92:

    16Million in cap space, in a league where they had 20mil to work with the Miami heat went out and got 8 players for 500k, I’m not sure if they tried throwing bids at guys and accidently got them for 500k or if it was just the 8 guys that they wanted that no one else knew about. Moe scooped up every BG member and judging by the way he played as a TC last season I wouldn’t expect the worst out of the BG clan and on top of that they have Nurtec to run their other line, breakout player from last season who was a game 5 appearance from potentially knocking out the Celtics in the first round, I know that MikeHandles is his boy but other than that no one on their team has any LG experience apart from KZoo. The Heat sit at #11 at the moment purely based on the potential they have as a team but this team could quickly crumble if their plan wasn’t actually a plan, and based on the amount of roster moves their making already it seems like falling apart might happen, but the reason they’re at this ranking regardless is the amount of room they have to trade for literally any player in the league.

    #12- Dallas Mavericks :team83:

    It may come as a surprise to some to see the Mavs ranked this low but compared to the other rosters in the league pre-season, but although this team has a decent supporting cast they seem to be lacking the most important position on the court for both lines, TKO seems to have confidence in his PG’s but neither of them have experience in the league as a PG and neither of them run PG for their teams exclusively in other leagues, the plan seems to be to rely more on the defense but if your team can’t score they’re going to have a rough time winning against good lines. TKO is adamite that BRab will come in and take the league by storm but with the level of talent that’s in the league and has come in this season Brab is going to have to be a hope diamond of talent hidden away playing with the iPM boys and personally I wouldn’t hold my breath. As for their 2nd line Te3zus is going to be running PG, another guy who runs in other leagues but not as a primary PG so it’ll be interesting to see what type of success he can have against some of the talent on other 2nd units. They did do a great job in terms of supporting cast, Baruso for 500k is a solid lock, and Banned Chase & Mike play together in other leagues but paying 8.5mil for off ball players without securing a 1st line PG is questionable. They do have 3mil in cap space to work with.

    #13- Phoenix Suns :team100:

    It’s hard to say too much about the Suns, CeZ & Swank have very limited experience in the league and every 500k player they picked up is new to the league, judging the success their management has had I don’t expect too much. They did go out and throw a bag at HoustoN & MikeyG for a combined 9mil, which may be a bit expensive but are quality players. The biggest question for them in bidding is from xHoldMy Beer, they went into a bidding war with Chicago and eventually ended up paying 7.25mil for the PG and judging off of his play in other leagues he’s worth a bag but its unclear whether its worth that much is to be determined. There’s a good chance that their first line is going to be able to compete with a lot of teams but if their second unit is a bust its going to be hard for them to even compete for a playoff spot. Regardless its always fun to watch a guy come in and show out in his rookie season and another advantage is that they’ll be underestimated and might see more second lines because of it.

    #14- Los Angeles Lakers :team90:

    It’s always hard to put a team last at the start of the season, the reasoning for them being in this position is that they just don’t seem to have a PG that will run a competitive line, they have some good pieces around Swaggy but mostly at the off-ball positions. Other than Hurl & Vet they have a ton of question marks on their roster, KRM & Kyrie have never had success in the league and of the guys who have played there’s not much to talk about, they’re going to need guys to play outside of their minds this season to have a shot at making a run but in most cases their ceiling is quite low and that’s why they land in this position. They have money to make moves if they try to switch the roster up if the season doesn’t start hot, and unless they have some serious talent in those new players it may not.
     
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  2. Chingiana

    Chingiana Ching

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    you gone see a big name lock
     
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  3. Ayztraks

    Ayztraks Well-Known Member

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    Well written !✍️
     
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